21 Sep Court Rules Against Berlin Rent Controls

Berlin in the news…

The long-term future of Berlin’s Mietpreisbremse, “rental price brake”, came under threat when a court ruled that the law violates Germany’s constitution. In the court’s ruling they argued that the law gave landlords in certain cities an unfair advantage over those in other cities in Germany.

The ruling does not mean an instant end to the law, but it raises the distinct possibility that it could end up in front of Germany’s constitutional court.

Fuest said the law had achieved the opposite of what it set out to do by favouring higher earners over lower ones. “It leads to those on good wages being able to assert themselves far better in the rental market, because if a landlord is restricted by the amount of rent he can demand, he is almost always going to opt for the person who earns more money because it gives him more security.”